Archive for the ‘Work’ Category

This year, I really wanted to get into the spirit of Halloween. I only do this for all of my international students, of course. So, I decided to put together a really scary costume that I could also wear around campus without making people think I was a freshman. Or lonely. Or a fantasy reader.

So, I turned my hat backwards, put on a polo shirt, jeans, and a fake press badge for Jimmy “Pop” A. Razzo, staff photographer for the National Reporter. I grabbed my new camera, the Canon 40D, set it to high speed burst mode (6.5 frames/second), put a flash on (set to the lowest level for the fastest recycling time and lowest battery consumption), and set out to terrorize the campus.

Ok, mostly, I just terrorized my fellow teachers and a few students. And a random guy dressed as a Lego man.

Seriously.

Don’t believe me? Well, here’s the photographic evidence to prove it (except that my badge is flipped around backwards):

I can’t tell you how many times someone asked me if there was any film in the camera. I’d just shake my head in a reassuring way and say no. Then, when they relaxed a bit, I pointed out that it was digital and unloaded the Canon at them.

At the end of the day, I had over 1200 images, 8 exhausted (rechargeable) AA batteries, and a lot more enemies.

Since August 29, 2006, when I started working at K-State, I’ve had a little program running on my computer that tracks how many keys I press, how many mouse buttons I click, and how many kilometers I move the mouse. So, while this post may have made more sense a week and a half ago when it was actually August 29th, 2008, here’s the two-year sum of computer work at KSU:

Keys pressed: 3,754,277

Left clicks: 551,033

Middle clicks: 36,135

Right clicks: 8,835

Total clicks: 596,003

Miles traveled (by the mouse cursor): 83.5

Of course, by the time I finish this post, all the numbers are now out of date, but that’s an issue for the next anniversary post.

Tired of all the dust and general ickiness that’s been building up on your computer monitor? Can’t be bothered to find a clean cloth and some cleaner to get rid of it? Well, now you can get rid of all that mess with a fantastic, new, internet-delivered screen cleaning.

That’s right: your screen can be cleaned through a recently developed utility that downloads quickly and goes right to work. There’s no complicated installation, and because it’s internet-delivered, it doesn’t hog any system resources. When you’re done, just close your browser and you won’t have to worry about it. Your screen will (virtually) be as good as new!

Give it a shot. You’ll never go back to the old school, analog, rag-and-cleaner system again!

Finally, I hope you can imagine Starbucks how it looks from inside. If you want to hang out with your friends, wife, girlfriend, and boyfriend you have to try this place.

From a student’s paper (emphasis added) describing an interesting location. I think he may not have realized quite the possibly violent entourage he was inadvertently assembling for a trip to get some joe.

The lesson for English language learners: never organize a trip for your wife and your girlfriend and your boyfriend at the same time. It just gets a bit awkward.